YUGE: 200K + Gun Background Checks Processed on Black Friday

Black Friday was one for the record books: over 200,000 background checks on firearms were processed last week.

This past Black Friday, over 203,086 background checks were processed by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)– a 10 percent increase from 2016. Moreover, this marks the highest amount of background checks processed on firearms on a single day ever. Anytime you purchase a firearm from a Federal Firearms License (FFL) dealer, you must submit to an NICS background check and get cleared before your firearms purchase goes through. (I, like millions of other Americans, have gone through the process.)

A surge in gun purchases is usually witnessed under Democrat presidents, but our nation has seen an unlikely bump under this more gun-friendly administration. It'll be interesting to see if this trend continues beyond the 2018 midterm elections, where the balance of power could hang or slip from Republicans if Democrats make serious gains.

In the meantime, it's encouraging to see more Americans purchasing firearms for responsible use.